Recession and Relationships: Homemaker or Homewrecker?

As most people already know, our economy is recently recovering from the “Great Recession.” Although little was great about this time when unemployment exceeded 10 percent and output fell by around 5.1 percent, it served as a wake up call for some Americans who are budgeting better and allocating money for emergency funds. For others, however, it’s business as usual — overspending and taking on debt.

The economy has a grave impact on the American household. From our spending behavior to the way we perform at our workplace, it makes everyone a bit more concerned and conscientious. It impacts other areas of our lives, too; however, these areas may not be as pronounced. In a recent Business Insider publication, the author includes some of the most unusual economic indicators. If you notice large numbers of highly attractive waitresses and waiters, this is a sign of the hot waitress/hot waiter index. When the economy is on the brink of disaster, people are more inclined to use their looks in an effort to get better paying jobs. The unclaimed corpse indicator is another sign of economic downturn. In 2009, during a time of high unemployment and falling non-farm payroll, Detroit reported a huge increase in the number of unclaimed bodies within its morgue. Another example — the plastic surgery indicator — found that plastic surgery revenues declined by 9 percent in 2008, during the downturn.

The economy has a ripple effect on many areas of our lives, particularly our relationships. Is a great relationship more inclined to thrive during a great recession? Or, is it better off when we can spend, spend, spend?